Casing-in machine



Jall- 1954 J. H. ATKINS ETAL 3,117,890

CASING-IN MACHINE Filed May 16,- 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. I

INVENTORS JOHN H. ATKINS ARTHUR V. BEACH ATTORNEYS Jan. 14, 1964 J. H.ATKINS ETAL CASING-IN MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 16, 1961INVENTORS JOHN H. ATKINS Y ARTHUR V.BEACH ATTORNEYS Jan. 14, 1964 J. H.ATKINS ETAL CASING-IN MACHINE Filei May 16, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 3INVENTORS JOHN H. ATKINS ARTHUR V.BEACH ATTORNEYS llnited rates PatentGfiice This invention relates in general to casing-in machines and moreparticularly concerns a new and improved a paratus for applyingcontrolled amounts of adhesive to the end sheets of books or" variousthicknesses.

In the art of bookbinding, a layer of adhesive is applied to the endsheets or" the sewn book before the outer cover is assembled. Typicallthis operation is carried out by a casing-in machine which customarilyis provided with a pair of spaced, parallel rollers adapted to transfera quantity of a hesive to the end sheets as the unbound book is passedbetween the rollers. A rather wide, wedge-shaped is normally used tosupport the book during this operation and carries it into wipingcontact with the rollers.

in practice, casing-in machines of this type are pre-set before each runto handle books in one thickness only and must be manually adjusted eachtime a change in book thickness occurs. ad "'nent will, of course, besomewhat time consuming and is pa ticularly bothersome when a great manybooks in a variety of thicknesses are being bound. Furthermore, inmachines presently available, the book supporting wing frequentlybecomes smemed with the adhesive, particularly when relatively volumesare being pasted. Unless the wing is cleaned immediately, the adhesiveis in danger of being picked up by the inner pages of any booksubsequen" y placed on the wing, usually mutilating the book to such anextent that it rnust be discarded.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide acasing-in mach ne that can accommodate books in a wide range ofthicknesses without any adjustment whatsoever.

AHOLEI' object of this invention is to provide a casingin machine thatcan apply a controlled layer of adhesive cleanly neatly to the endsheets of a book without overspreading onto the book support or edges ofthe inner pages.

More particularly, this invention features a pair of glue pots adaptedto move toward and away from one another in timed cooperative relationwith the reciprocation of an arm which carries an unbound book intoregister between the pots. Special glue transfer rollers, mounted on thepots, are arranged to move into wiping contact with opposite sides ofthe unbound book to apply controlled amounts of adhesive to the endsheets. The book-supporting arm is in the form of an elongated, thinblade that is laterally movable and operatively connected forreciprocation with the sarne driving means that serves to move the gluepots.

As another feature of this invention the glue transfer rollers have beenformed in such a fashion that a greater quantity of adhesive is appliedalong the joints of the book than over the remainder of the end sheets.This produces a more durable book in that a firmer bond is establishedbetween the cover and end sheets, particularly in the critical areaalong the joints.

But these and other features of the invention, along with furtherobjects and advantages thereof, will become more fully apparent from thefollowing detailed description with refe ence being made to theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation of a preferred embodiment of theinvention,

FIG. 2 is a partial end elevation showing the upper portion of theapparatus,

PEG. 3 is a top plan view of the glue pots and associated rollers, and,

H6. 4 is an end elevation of the pots and rollers shown in FIG. 3.

Construction Referring now to the drawings, the reference character illindicates a fixed base support for an upright tubular standard 12 havinga pneumatically or hydraulically actuatcd power cylinder l4 mountedcoaxially thereon. A transverse bracket 16 is mounted in fixed positionon the standard if. and functions both as a support for controlcomponents 18, located one side of the standard, and as a guide for avertically disposed carriage 2%, located on the opposite side of thestandard. The carriage 2t slidably en ages a grooved track 22 formed inthe guide end of the bracket has its lower portion drivingly conne oilby a CIOSS-rll'lk to a piston rod (not shown) extending downwardly fromthe cylinder into the tubular standard. A flanged, longitudinal opening2 1- is formed along the walls of the standard to accommodate age ascarriage 2% is reciprocated by on of the cyli der 14.

Located near the top of the carriage 29 is a slide 26 mounted on thecarriage arranged for a limited reciprocation relative thereto. itshould be understood that slide reciprocates with carriage 2i) and alsoreciprocai'es relative to the carriage itself near the bottom of thecarriage stroke. Movement of the slide relative to the carriage iscontrolled by a toggle linkage 28 which has an upper link pivotallyconnected to the slide and a lower link pivotally connected to a plate Acam follower in the r rm of a roller 32 is mounted on one or" theprofiled face of a fixed cam plate The function of this mechanism willbe set forth in detail along with a general description of the operationof the mac ine to follow.

Mounted for limited lateral movement on the slide 26 is a block 36 whichis slidably secured to a set of pins carried by the block The block 36,in turn, carries a horizontally disposed wing in the form of anelongated, thin blade 4% over which the unbound book B is straddled forpasting as suggested in FIG. 1. Since the Wing is laterally movable itis in effect self-aligning so that no particular care need be taken whenplacing a book on the wing.

Reciprocation or" the carriage together with the wing 41' carries theunbound book down between a pair or" glue pots 42- which are arranged tomove toward and away from each other in a slightly curved but generallyhorizontal path. Each of the glue pots 42 is mounted on the top of arigid, boxed frame id which is pivoted at its lower end about a shaftThe shaft 46 is, in turn, mounted by its ends between spaced ears 4-9forming part i the base The two boxed frames 44 extend upwardly fromtheir separate shafts 46 and diverge a slight angle from one anotherwhen in the open position of FIG. 2. These frames will come into generalparallelism when the machine is in the closed position shown in FIG. 4.

The two boxed frames are operatively connected by a toggle linkage whichincludes a pair of links 48 pivotally connected at their outer ends tothe frames 4 and at their inner ends to a block The block 59 slidablyengages an upright guidepost 52 which is fixed to the base it A rod 54,slidably received in an upright position by the block dd depends from acrossbar which is fixed to the carriage The rod 54 is provided with acollar Bl, adjustable to different positions along the length of therod, and pivotally supports a l T2 7-. r 7 L12 nniis and bears againstslightly curved tripping lever 53 formed with a boss During the firstpart of a downward stroke of the carriage the boss on the tri ping leverwill strike a projection (not shown) on the block, biasing the toggledown past its mid-point. Once past this mid-point a pneumaticallyactuated cylinder 53, er en ing between the boxed frames dd and under aconstant pressure of perhaps 15 p.s.i., will take control to draw theframes and their glue pots toward one another. On an upward stroke ofthe carriage 2%) the rod 54 will engage with the block 59 to draw it up,thus spreading the pots and biasing the toggle into the open position ofFIG. 2.

To prevent the tripping lever from becom ng jammed during the last partof the downward stroke it is drawn out of engagement with the blockprojection by means of a chain 57 attached at one end to the lever andat the other end to part of the frame 44.

Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 3 and 4 the glue pots 42 andthe associated glue transfer mechanism have been illustrated in detail.As shown, each glue pot typically is in the form of an open rectangularbox and adapted to contain a quantity of liquid adhesive 59 suitable forbookbinding purposes.

Mounted for rotation lengthwise within the pot 42 is a master roller 69of relatively large diameter. The master roller is keyed to a shaft 62,one end of which passes through an end wall of the pot to drivinglyengage with a gear 64. Both ends of the shaft 62- are eccentrically androtatably mounted in bushings 65 which in turn are rotatable withintheir supporting end walls. A lever arm 66 is mounted fast at one end tothe bushing 55 and at its opposite end engages a micrometer adjustmentdevice 68 supported by a fixed bracket 7%. By adjustment of themicrometer device the master roller 69 may be moved to or away from aglue transfer roller 72 as desired. it will be understood that themaster roller 69 will be partially submerged in the liquid adhesive inthe pot and that rotation of this roller will carry a quantity of theadhesive to the transfer roller. it is therefore desirable that thesetwo rollers be adjustable relative to one another in order to obtain aproper bight therebetween.

A longitudinal groove 7 4 is formed along the cylindrical surface of themaster roller 69 and serves to deliver to the transfer roller 72 afillet of adhesive of somewhat greater volume than the relatively thinfilm picked up and delivered by the remaining smooth surface of theroller. The transfer roller 72, it will be noted, is formed with anumber of closely spaced peripheral grooves 75 which prevent the rollerfrom grabbing the book and is mounted on a shaft 776 which carries agear 78 in mesh with the gear The gears and rollers are arranged so thatthe fillet of adhesive will be delivered precisely to the joints of anunbound book as it is moved into contact with the transfer rollers 72.

Both the master and transfer rollers are rotated upon reciprocation ofthe carriage As best shown in FIG. 2 the driving mechanism for therollers include a pair of elongated racks 8t} pivotally suspended fromthe arms of a T bar 82. The rack meshes with a pinion 84 I- tatablymounted on the side of the pot 42 and in turn meshes with a gear 86carried by the transfer roller shaft 76. With this mechanism thereciprocating movement of the racks will be translated into rotarymovement of the rollers. Considering the left hand glue pot of FIG. 4,on a downward stroke of the carriage 2t) and rack 85), the master roller6%) will be rotated in a counterclockwise direction and the transferroller 72 will be rotated in a clockwise direction. The correspondingrollers on the right hand will, of course, be rotated in correspondinglyopposite directions. An upward return stroke of the carriage and rackswill rotate the several rollers in reverse directions.

So that the longitudinal groove 74 may be readily set to deliver thefillet of adhesive precisely to the book joints,

4 a quick-release mechanism has been provided. This mechanism includes apush rod 68 which is slidably mounted through a pair of lugs 9i 2extending from the end wall of the pot 4-2. The rod is urged inwardly bya coiled spring it mounted over the rod 88 and under a slightcompression between the lug hi) and a collar 96 mounted fast to the rod.The inner end of the rod 83 may be seen in FlG. 3 to be bifurcated toengage opposite sides of the rack 8% thereby serving to guide the rackdu ing reciprocation and to hold it in mesh with the pinion 52. A smallroller bearing 93 may be mounted within the biiurcated end of the rod toride frictionlessly against the rear face of the rack Sit. Forconvenience, a knob 1% may be formed on the outer end of the rod.

By pulling the rod outwardly the rack 88 may be unineshed from thepinion 32 and the master roller freely rotated by hand to any desiredposition. Once a position is selected, the rod may be released to returnthe rack into mesh. Normally, it is unnecessary to re-position theroller once it has been set, even though books of various thicknessesare delivered to the machine.

This quick-release mechanism also serves as a safety throw-out in theevent of a malfunction of the machine. Should the rollers or gears forany reason jam during reciprocation of the carriage the racks willovercome the pressure of the springs 94 and will push out of mesh withthe pinions, thereby avoiding serious damage to the machine or possiblyto the operator.

In addition to those parts described above, the glue pots 42 alsoinclude a wiping roller 1%2, a guide roller 104 and a doctor blade 1%.The wiper roller 102, which has its shaft ends resting on inclinedshoulders 108, rides against the cylindrical surface of the masterroller 6% and serves to squeeze adhesive from the master roller during aclockwise (FIG. 4) rotation of that roller. During a counterclockwiserotation, when the adhesive is being applied to the joints and endsheets of the book, the thickness of the adhesive to be applied iscontrolled by the doctor blade 1%. The blade has its wiping edge locatedabove the surface of the adhesive and may be in the form of angle stockwith one side fastened to the bottom of the pot. Preferably the uprightside, as seen in FIG. 4, is formed with a series of ports M9 and isequipped with a vane lit hinged along one side thereof. This, in effectconstitutes a swing check valve to prevent the piling up of the viscousadhesive on one side of the blade during a counterclockwise (FIG. 4)rotation of the master roller 69.

The guide roller 164 is suitably mounted by brackets 112 and is providedwith a pair of narrow annuli 114 spaced from one another and ridingagainst the upper portion of the master roller of). The purpose of theguide roller is to prevent the pages of the book, particularly thebottom edges thereof, from contacting the master roller 69 after thebook has been drawn between the two transfer rollers 72. Quitefrequently it happens that as the book leaves the bight of these tworollers the pages fly out to a certain extent. Unless the guide rollersill-l were provided the lower edges of the pages might flip against themaster roller and become smeared.

Since it is contemplated that the casing-in machine may be shut downfrom time to time for various reasons, valved drains U16 have beenprovided for each of the pots so that the liquid adhesive may be drawnoff and stored.

Operation In order that the operation of the machine may be fullyunderstood, a complete cycle will be described. Assuming that themachine is in the open or start position of FIGS. 1 and 2 with the wing40 raised over the glue pots, an unbound book will be placed over thewing by the operator. A suitable starting device (pedal, button, etc.)may then be tripped by the operator to start the machine through itscycle.

Admission of compressed air to the cylinder 14 will drive its pistondown, thereby dropping the carriage and lowering the wing 40 with itsbook between the glue pots and transfer rollers. As the carriageapproaches the bottom of its stroke the tripping lever 53 pushes thetoggle links 48 down, thus permitting the cylinder 58 to draw the frames44 and glue pots toward one another so that the transfer rollers 72.will come into wiping contact with the book to deliver a layer ofadhesive over the end sheets. During the downward stroke of thecarriage, the master rollers will be rotated through the operation ofthe racks 8i and will pick up a film of adhesive which will betransferred first to the roller '72 and then to the end sheets. Themachine is so timed that the fillet of adhesive picked up by the groove74 will be transferred to the joints of the book when the book reachesits lowest point of descent. The remaining end sheets will be coatedwith an even layer of adhesive as the wing is raised and the book drawnupward from between the rollers.

In FIG. 4 the book is shown just before it comes to rest between thetransfer rollers 72. It will be understood that the downward movement ofthe book will stop when the joints of the book come down against thesetwo rollers, whereas the wing and carriage will descend perhaps anotherinch or more depending upon the thickness of the book.

By transferrin the support of the book from the wing to the transferrollers just before the downward stroke of the carriage is completed,the book will even itself up so that adhesive will be distributed evenlyalong the joints. This will occur no matter how thick the book might beand even it the book hangs somewhat lopsided on the wing with one sidelower than the other. This desirable result is accomplished by reason ofthe fact that the carriage is still moving downwardly when the twotransfer rollers come into contact with the book. Since the carriage ismoving, the two rollers will be rotating, the one on the left clockwiseand the one on the right counterclockwise as viewed in FIG. 4. Therotating rollers will have sufiicient friction engagment with the bookto pull it down until the joints come evenly to rest along the rollers,but, because the rollers are peripherally grooved, this frictionalengagement will be insufficient to pull the book entirely through thebight.

Where the book is lopsided one joint will butt against its supportingroller before the joint on the opposite side. In such a case the rollerin contact with the joint will rotate freely in the joint while theother roller pulls down on the opposite side of the book until the twojoints are even. As previously stated, it is important that the jointsreceive a proper coating of adhesive to insure a firm bond between thebook and cover. To this end the apparatus has been designed to bring thetransfer rollers squarely up into the joints despite variations in thethickness of books which are run through the machine.

On the upward stroke of the carriage 2d the toggle 28 and cam 34 comeinto use. As shown in FIG. 4 the follower 32 has moved down an inclinedportion 118 of the cam 34, thereby biasing the toggle 28 and pulling thewing 4t? down. \V'nen the carriage 22 starts to move up, the follower 32will move up the inclined portion lit: and bias the toggle in anopposite manner so that the wing is given a short, upward movement. Thismovemen; will be enough to move the wing all the way up into the back ofthe book, thus transferring the support of the book from the rollers 72back to the wing. Unless this were done, the book would be carried upbetween the rollers with the wing perhaps an inch or more below theback. As soon as the book moved up out of the bight of the rollers, thecompressive pressure on the book would be relieved and it would dropback down under its own weight until stopped either by the wing or bythe lower edges of the book striking the rollers. Since the edges of theinner pages would become smeared with adhesive if this were allowed tohappen, it is necessary to move the wing all of the way up into the backof the book before the book clears the rollers. At the end of the cycle,a cover is placed over the back by the operator while it is still on thewing and the assembled book transferred to a press.

From the foregoing description, it will be appreciated that the presentinvention offers several immediate advantages. For example, books from/s" up to 5" thickness may be accommodated without adjusting themachine. These books will be handled cleanly and neatly with nooverspreading of the adhesive. The wing, being in the form of a long,thin blade, will remain clean since it does not come close to therollers, and books need not be precisely centered over the wing sincethat member is self-centering.

While the invention has been described with particular reference to theillustrated embodiment, it will be understood that many modificationsmay be made by those skilled in the art without departing from thespirit of our invention.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to obtainby Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A casing-in machine, comprising a fixed support, a carriage mountedfor reciprocation on said support, an elongated narrow wing mounted onsaid carriage and reciprocated therewith, said wing being mounted forself adjusting free lateral movement relative to said carriage andadapted to support a book thereon, adhesive carrying elements movablymounted on said frame on either side of the path of travel of thebook-carrying wing and yielding means for moving said elements into andout of wiping contact with said book when said book is reciprocatedbetween said elements.

2. A casing-in machine, comprising a fixed support, a carriage mountedfor linear movement on said support, an elongated thin blade mounted onsaid carriage and adapted to support an unbound book thereon, said bladebeing mounted for limited lateral and longitudinal movement relative tosaid carriage and linearly movable therewith, adhesive carrying elementsmovably mounted on said support on either side of the path of travel ofsaid book-carrying blade, means for moving said elements into and out ofwiping contact with the end sheets of said book and cam means connectingsaid blade to said support for moving said blade longitudinally of saidcarriage when said elements come into contact with said book.

3. A casing-in machine, comprising a pair of adhesive carrying elementsmounted for movement toward and away from one another, an elongated wingadapted to support a book thereon, said wing being further adapted forlinear movement between said elements whereby said book may be drawn inwiping contact between said elements and means for mounting said wingfor free limited lateral movement whereby said book will center itselfrelative to said elements when in contact therewith.

4. A casing-in machine comprising a fixed support, a carriage mountedfor vertical reciprocation on said support, a horizontally disposed wingmounted on said carriage and reciprocated therewith, said wing beingadapted to support an unbound book straddled thereover, a pair ofopposing rollers mounted parallel to one another on opposite sides ofthe path of travel of said book and adapted to apply a layer of adhesiveto the end sheets of said book, means for moving said rollers intocontact with opposite sides of said book as it is moved down betweensaid rollers and before said wing reaches its lowermost position so thatthe support of said book is transferred from said wing to said rollers,means for simultaneously rotating said rollers counter to one another toposition said book evenly between said rollers and to apply a layer ofadhesive along the joints of said book and further means for moving saidwing upwardly into said book on a return stroke of said carriage so thatthe support of said book is transferred back to said wing before saidbook leaves the bight of said rollers.

5. A casing-in machine according to claim 4 wherein said rollers arerotated counter to one another during a downward stroke of said carriageand rotated counter to one another in reverse directions during anupward stroke of said carriage.

6. A casing-in machine, comprising a fixed base, a pair of frame memberspivotally mounted to said base, an adhesive carrying element mounted oneach of said frame members, a toggle linkage connecting said members,fluid power means yieldingly connecting said members for normally urgingsaid members towards one another, said linkage being adapted to locksaid frames apart when biased in one direction and to permit said powermeans to pivot said members towards one another when biased in anotherdirection and book supporting means adapted to reciprocate between saidelements and said members, said book supporting means being furtheradapted to bias said linkage first in one direction and then in anotherdirection whereby said elements move into Wiping contact with said bookas said book passes therebetween.

7. A casing-in machine, comprising a fixed base, a pair of frame membersplvotally mounted to said base, an adhesive carrying element mounted oneach of said frame members, yielding fluid power means connecting saidmembers for urging said member yieldingly towards one another, framemember spreading means connecting said frame members and normallyholding them apart, and book supporting means adapted to reciprocatebetween said elements and said members, said book supporting means beingfurther adapted upon reciprocation to first disable and then return saidspreading means to a functioning condition causing said members to movefirst towards and then away from one another whereby said elements moveinto a wiping contact with said book as said book passes therebetween.

8. A casing-in machine, comprising a fixed support, a carriage mount dfor vertical reciprocation on said support, a wing mounted on saidcarriage and adapted to support a book thereon, a pair of separate framemembers each pivotally mounted on said support and adapted to moveangularly towards and away from one another an opposite sides of thepath of travel of said book, yielding fl id power means connecting saidmembers for urging them yieldingly towards one another, a glue potmounted on each of said members, said glue pots being adapted to containa quantity of liquid adhesive, adhesive transfer rollers mounted on saidpots and adapted to deliver a layer of adhesive to portions of said bookwhen said wing is reciprocated between said pots, and locking meansconnecting said members and normally holding said members apart, saidcarriage being adapted to disable said g means during a limited portionof said carriage reciprocation to permit said power means to move saidmembers towards one another.

9. A casing-in machine according to claim 8 wherein said transferrollers are eperativeiy connected to said carriage whereby said roliersare rotated upon reciprocation of said carriage.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

4. A CASING-IN MACHINE COMPRISING A FIXED SUPPORT, A CARRIAGE MOUNTEDFOR VERTICAL RECIPROCATION ON SAID SUPPORT, A HORIZONTALLY DISPOSED WINGMOUNTED ON SAID CARRIAGE AND RECIPROCATED THEREIWTH, SAID WING BEINGADAPTED TO SUPPORT AN UNBOUND BOOK STRADDLED THEREOVER, A PAIR OFOPPOSING ROLLERS MOUNTED PARALLEL TO ONE ANOTHER ON OPPOSITE SIDES OFTHE PATH OF TRAVEL OF SAID BOOK AND ADAPTED TO APPLY A LAYER OF ADHESIVETO THE END SHEETS OF SAID BOOK, MEANS FOR MOVING SAID ROLLERS INTOCONTACT WITH OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID BOOK AS IT IS MOVED DOWN BETWEENSAID ROLLERS AND BEFORE SAID WING REACHES ITS